


Muse

by iisintrovert



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: College AU, M/M, Pronouns, and a punk artist, i promise no tears, nico is genderfluid and pretty, nico is pastel, nico wearing flowercrowns, nico wearing skirts, pastel!nico, punk!will, solangelo, they're both asexual, will has blue hair, will is a med student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-24 10:25:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4915960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iisintrovert/pseuds/iisintrovert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will, a struggling med/art student, has no idea what to make for his semester project. It just has to be of a person, but who?<br/>Obligatory punk x pastel au, but the not in the way you'd expect for this couple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter one

As a struggling med student who took art class, Will Solace was pressed for time more then anyone you could think of.

Yes, he had known what he was getting himself into the second he clicked the button at the bottom of the website he used to signed up for his classes. He knew that finding a muse and completing his mid-term project while studying for tests and exams with a meager budget dedicated mainly to art supplies was going to be difficult. Extremely difficult. So hard it would be nearly impossible if he planned to sleep for five to seven hours a night. Luckily, he was used to all-nighters and instant coffee is cheaper then acrylics and canvas. Unluckily, he still had no idea what he was going to do for his art project.

It had been days since his professor had announced the prompt. He still didn't even know what medium he was going to use.

The assignment was to create an image (sculpture, print, painting, drawing, or anything else you could come up with) that showed a living creature in both its real life, and its imaginary. That was it. Open to interpretation, just like most things in the entire class.

Will sat in the courtyard with a sketch pad in his lap, trying desperately to scrounge up some sort of plan or outline or anything that might help him start working. Even if it was just a simple decision to use a board canvas with an off-white wash and three different colors, it would help him start. After that, everything would just flow, right? Right?

After sitting for an hour with a blank sheet of paper in front of him and his ipod dead beside him, before he decided to make a decision. The project had to do with thought, and a human being, (Will had decided on his creature being human) so he couldn't just use one medium. A person is concrete, solid. Their thoughts are fluid. It would just make logical sense to combine the two.  
“Alright!” Will cried out. A few people turned there heads, but no one really made that big of a deal. This was college, people were insane.

It didn't matter what other people thought, he made a decision. Now everything should flow.

And it did. In a matter of seconds he made three more decisions. The back round would be watercolor, and swirling outward from the main image, a person. That person was going to have to be real. It wouldn't be good for them not to be, he couldn't make the entire painting imaginary, it was supposed to be a mix of the real and the false, his muse had to be solid. They would be painted with acrylic.

And that was that. That was all he needed to be content with his work for the day. Will pulled his pack from behind his head and sat up, stuffing his sketchpad and pencils into the first pocket.  
When he stood up, something caught his eye.

A boy, sitting on a bench not twenty yards away from where he was standing. Thick, dark hair fell over his face in curls, small blue clips doing nothing more then holding back the longest parts of his bangs. The boy wasn't wearing anything that would give him protection from the chilly autumn wind. He wore a sleeveless gray blouse with a flowery pattern and a lace neck and shoulder line tucked into high-rise, pastel blue skinny jeans. Little pink flats covered his small feet.

Will stared ahead, not sure why this strange figure had caught his eye, when he lifted his head and tucked an arm around his own shoulder and Will knew. This was it. This was his chance.  
He immediately sat back down and pulled his paper and pencils out of his pack, not looking away from the boy sitting on the bench.

Will started to sketch.  
He began by tracing a light outline, one that only encompassed the shape of the boy's head and his curved spine. He brought the tip of his pencil down farther over the curve of his hip and the angle of his knee, the one foot that rested on the bench with him. Soon he was drawing the lines of his legs and the folds of his tight jeans and the way the loose fabric of his blouse bent over his stomach, and he was loosing himself in the curls of the dark hair, pulled back inefficiently by pastel pink clips. He was so lost in the strange beauty of this person that when he looked up to see the contours of his face before etching them on paper, he didn't notice that the person's head was turned.

As in, the boy was watching him intently, a smile on his face.

Will froze as he gazed down at his completed drawing. Long, chocolate brown eyelashes and. Dark eyes looked back at him.

William, he thought to himself, you fucked up.

Will peered back up shyly. His own bangs had fallen over his face, and he noticed that the stark blue of his dyed hair almost matched the color of the boy's pants. It was an insignificant thing, but it made his heart swell. He pushed the long hair out of his eyes and looked back at the boy. He was smiling back. Then he was standing. Then he was walking and oh sit he's walking towards me.  
“Abortabortabort,” Will whispered frantically, stuffing things in his bag haphazardly. He refused to look up. He might meet the eyes of that beautiful creature... and he didn't know if he would be able to function as a human while staring into them.

Just ignore it, and get away, he told himself. His sketch pad wasn't cooperating. It was doing this thing called being made of cardboard, and he had been trying to force into a pouch much smaller then the surface area of his drawing pad.

He wasn't going to risk folding it in half, not if it might damage the only bit of work he had managed to do. He just needed to take it out and put it into the other pocket but it wasn't cooperating and –

“Do you need help with that?”

Will froze. His suddenly noticed his knuckles, how knobbly they were, and how his fingerless gloves were fraying at the edges. He became aware of the tangles in his hair by his right ear and how the blue of his bangs was wearing off, the sunny blond underneath showing through in patchy spots.

He wanted to say “yes, I do.” but he also wanted to pick up his things and sprint away. Part of him never wanted the boy to see the drawing in his arms, while the other half of him screamed to know anything and everything about him.

But running away wouldn't do him any good. And Will needed a subject, and a willing one at that.

As painful as it was, Will held the sketch pad in his arms and turned around, meeting the gaze of the other boy.

The eyes, as he had expected, were beautiful. A deep, chocolatey brown – almost black – they were like pools that one could drown in.

Will wasn't expecting him to be so small.

“Er, hello?” the dark haired boy said with a questioning tone. His smile was faltering. Perhaps it was the piercings. It normally was. Nobody likes snake bites, and few liked the leather jackets and blue hair, but Will normally didn't care. Today was different.

“Hi!” he tried, his voice cheerful. “Sorry about that.”

The other boy grinned. “Sorry about what? Drawing me without permission?”

Will winced. “Yeah, that. I hope you don't mind.”

He giggled. Will decided that the sound of his giggles was the best sound in the entire universe and he wanted to hear it again. “I don't mind. I would like to see it...” he trailed off hopefully.

Will clutched the picture to his chest, taking great care as to not smudge the shading on his black cotton t-shirt. “No!” He blurted. The smaller boy shied back almost immediately.

Shit, Will thought. now you're scaring him. He took a step back himself and lowered his voice. “Sorry. I just mean...it isn't...done.” he finished lamely.

The younger boy looked down at his feet and rubbed his knees together. His arms were wrapped loosely around his chest, and Will could see goosebumps on the bare skin of his arms. He's cold, he thought.

Will's immediate reaction was to drop his sketchpad on the dewy ground and take off his own jacket, a heavy leather one with various buttons at the lapel that advertized various (extremely punk rock) bands. He pulled it over his shoulders and lifted it up, like a peace offering.  
“Here...you look cold.”

The small boy raised an eyebrow, but accepted the gift graciously. “Won't you get cold?” he asked, nodding at his thin tee shirt and jeans.  
Will thought of a multitude of things he could have said. "I don't get cold. You don't feel the cold if you're disciplined. The air isn't as cold as my heart." He didn't say any of them. “I'm fine.” was his reply, as he looked down at his own feet.

“Will I ever be able to see the picture?” the boy asked.

Will looked up, nearly melting again as he stared into those eyes. “Maybe.” he whispered. “When I'm done. I have to paint it, you know, for my art final.”

The boy nodded knowingly. “Alright. But...” he looked away, blushing, and rubbed his cheek against the collar of Will's jacket. The garment was huge on him, the sleeves completely covered his hands, but at least he looked warm.

“But what?”

The smaller boy looked up at him through his eyelashes. “How – How will I get in touch with you when you're finished?”

Will looked down at him, surprised. Oh. Oh. “Um...here, this is my number – ?” He started to pull his phone out of his back pocket when he realized he didn't really know who he was talking to.

“Nico,” the smaller supplied, the trace of a grin on his face.

“Nico.” Will smiled. “I'm William. Most people call me Will.”

“Hello, Will. Nice to meet you.” Nico smiled brightly as they exchanged numbers, fingers brushing against each other for longer then needed. His facial expression outshone all the pink hair clips and lacy blouses in the world.

A loud car horn beeped behind them – causing Will to jump and Nico to sigh and look down at his feet. “That would be my ride.”

“Okay.” Will responded dumbly.

“Oh wait, I almost forgot! Your jacket!” The smaller began to shrug it off but Will placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“No,” he decided. “Keep it. You can give back to me some other time.”

This made Nico perk up. “Yeah,” he grinned. “yeah, some other time.” The car horn rang again, longer this time. “I have to go, but see you around! Don't forget to text me when you finish the painting!”

Will felt a quick hug around his middle, and then he was gone. The mysterious, beautiful pastel boy who left a name on his tongue and a memory in his chest.

“You fuckin' nerd.” he muttered to himself. “You can't go doing stuff like that. You've got work to do.”

Even as he said it, he was pulling out his phone to text the boy.

Will: I like your pink hair clips


	2. chapter two

Will had gotten a head start on all of his pre-med homework. All of it. He had painted the base coat for his first semester art project, and he new exactly what direction he was going to go for it. Everything should have been great. Except it wasn't great.

Nico hadn't texted him back.

It wasn't like he hadn't texted him at all, he had, many times. They had become texting buddies in the past three days. It was Will's first day 'off' in two weeks. This morning, as soon as he had woken up, he had grabbed his phone and sent a text.

Me: good morning! I've got nothing going on today, do you wanna meet up and help me get some sketches out?

And there was no response. It had been an hour, and there still wasn't an answer.

What's going on? Will wondered. He has to have seen it if he's up. Is he ignoring me?

The thought made him shudder slightly, so he shooed it out of his head before he could think too far into any other possible reasons why Nico hadn't texted him back yet. Instead, he finally got out of bed, ready to start this meager day of relaxing.

Will pulled himself out of his loft bed and climbed down to the floor as quietly as possible. It was only seven in the morning and his roommate, Cecil, was still sleeping. He made his way to his desk and plopped down. Unfortunately, the calender in front of him reminded him of his art project deadline. No, Will tried to tell himself. It's your day off. You're not allowed to think of bad things. Instead, he busied himself with his piercings.

On the shelf above his small wooden desk was a little metal container. As gingerly as possible, Will removed it from its place and opened it to find his many rings. The first, silver ring was for the small needle hole to the side of his left nostril. Two studs adorned his bottom lip, and six rings and studs decorated both of his ears.

After completing his basic routine of trying not to stab himself, and then doing so any way, Will stared up at his reflection in the small mirror on the wall and grinned. His mother had always teased him for looking like “a silver Christmas tree.” when he first decided to get his ears pierced, people would say that his blond hair and love to help people clashed with the abrasive appearance of the metal on his face. That was when he first died his hair bright purple and declared art his passion, not medicine. His current hair style, a shaggy blue undercut that flopped down in his eyes unless he clipped it back, was wearing itself out. Blonde was peeking out at his roots, and the hair at the back of his head was getting to long to be considered an undercut anymore. He would definitely need a new dye-job and haircut by the end of the week.

Will sighed, standing up and stretching until his bones made the same noises they would have if they were clicked against each other. He stared down at his bare chest and decided that he was going to be needing clothes if he planned on heading to the nearest coffee shop.

Humming the remix version of Spooky Scary Skeletons under his breath, he picked out a pair of straight-leg black jeans and a dark gray tank top, and threw them on haphazardly. His feet were slipped into his favorite lace-up black boots and his hand was reaching for his favorite leather jacket when he remembered: he still hadn't seen Nico. He still didn't have his jacket.

Sighing, Will stepped outside his dorm room and made his way out of the suit until he was standing on the balcony that connected their rooms to everyone else's on their floor. Today wasn't a day where he would be able to go out in just a tank top. Ratty black hoodie it would be.

Will grabbed his things and began the long trek from the eighth floor to the first.

 

Will did not expect the coffee shop to be as empty as it was. Normally, on a cold day it would be filled to the brim (no pun intended) with tired college students desperate for a hot drink to wake them up. Today it was just the usual stragglers. Three people he recognized from around campus, the same who always seemed to be hanging around the local stores and cafes with their large group of friends. Almost exactly the opposite as Will.

They were sitting together in a booth off to the side with drinks in hand, talking loudly. Well, not loudly, but definitely too loud for a empty cafe. Definitely too loud for Will.

He stepped up to the front counter, wallet in hand.

“Hello, welcome to Grounds.” a bored looking teenager said in a monotonous voice without making eye contact. “Would you like to try our new mocha delight with cherry syrup and dark chocolate flakes.”

Will wrinkled his nose at the thought of drinking something so sweet, and instead stared at the menu. Same as always, I guess. “No thanks. I'll have a large black dark roast and a sesame seed bagel.”

The cashier raised an eyebrow at his ambitious order. “Are you sure you don't want room for cream and sugar? Dark roast is pretty extreme.”

Will rolled his eyes and gestured at the piercings and dyed hair. “I'm a black coffee man. I can handle it.”

The attendant shrugged, as if to say 'your funeral,' and continued to type into the register. “Would you like cream cheese with that?”

Will thought for a moment. It was a bit more expensive, but he could handle it with all the savings he had accumulated over his high school years of part time jobs. “Yeah, sure. Why not.”

The boy ('Jarold', as the name tag read) moved behind the counter to pluck his bagel from it's shelf and wrap it it parchment paper. “Would you like your bagel toasted?” he asked, in a slightly more lively tone. He seemed to have more respect for Will after hearing his hard core coffee order.

“No thanks.”

“A name to write on the cup?”

“Will's fine.”

Jarold told him his total and gave him his change, before busying himself with the drink machine behind the cash register. Will took his bagel and sat down in the both farthest away from the group across the shop and pulled out his sketch pad. He might not have his muse to gaze upon, but there was still the lingering thought of him ghosting every thought in his mind. Plus, he had a nearly finished drawing that he needed to add final touches to.

After a few minutes of cross hatching and shading, Jarold called his name and he received his large coffee. It tasted like death, but in a good, caffeinated way.

By the time he got back to his booth, his phone was vibrating on the table. “Nico?” he whispered. Will picked up the phone and read the message on the screen.

Nico,':) : hey Will! I'd love to meet up later. Right now I'm headed to meet up with my friends, but I can meet you at the library in about an hour? Hope you can make it!! :)

will smiled down at his cell. The bubbly style of texting matched the boy's clothing and personalty.  
He was just texting him back when the bell above the cafe's door rang and a rush of cool air flitted by Will's table.

Who is it now, he thought. He was very surprised to find someone with familiar scruffy hair and (his) leather jacket walking into his favorite cafe.

“Nico?” he muttered, surprised.

The boy didn't hear him, so he called out, standing up from his seat. “Nico!”

Nico turned, surprised, and Will felt the air catch in his chest. He was wearing red tights and a pale orange skirt tucked over a baggy white t-shirt. An orange flower crown with little plastic autumn leaves adorned his curly, overgrown hair. Will's leather jacket hung from his thin frame, reaching the bottom of the skirt and the end of his fingers.

Nico looked up at him and smiled. “Will!”

The air suddenly returned to his lungs all at once in a painful sweep. “Hi.” he breathed, walking closer. “How are you?”

“I'm great! I can't believe I found you here. I normally come here at around nine to meet up with friends, but today I woke up earlier. I'm glad I did.”

Will grinned. “I always work on projects here at seven. I'm surprised we've missed each other this many times.”

Will heard someone clear their throat behind Nico.

“Er, Nikki, could you introduce me to your new friend?” In the booth in front of him, the boy with bright eyes and black hair stared holes into Will's forehead with his eye contact.

Nico jumped. “Oh! Yeah, sorry Perc.” He turned and made a exagerated gesture towards Will. “This is Will, I met him a few days ago. I agreed to be his subject for his art final, and then stole his jacket.”

Another boy, this one taller and blonde, peered between Nico and Will as if he were trying to analyze their relationship. Apparently seeing nothing wrong, he stood up and gestured for Nico to join them at their table. Will noticed two extra seats at the table.

'Perc,' trusting the other boy, continued to dig into his sausage egg and cheese croissant. “Pronoun check.” he called out without looking up.

Blushing, Nico tugged at the hem of his skirt and avoided Will's eyes. “It's a firm 'they,' for now. Might shift later. I'm having one of those days.”

This confused Will. Pronouns? He thought. I thought he-they, knew these people. Wouldn't they already know his preferred pronouns? Still, he stood there awkwardly as Nico sat down with his group. The girl in the middle, he noticed, was eying him with a more thoughtful look on her face. Her's was more intimidating then the boy's.

Nico peered up at Will. “Come on, sit down with us!”

Reluctantly, he pulled out the chair beside Nico and sat down. He didn't fail to notice that he had left his drink back at his own table.

All was quiet and awkward until the girl in front of him leaned forward and smiled smugly. “So you're the reason they've been wearing that jacket every day.”

“Hazel!” Nico cried out, their blush spreading to their ears.

Will just smiled. “I would suggest we trade, but that seems ineffective. Plus, that jacket's a lot warmer then some ratty sweat shirt.”

Nico giggled. “I'm going to have to give it back one day.”

“I'm free today.” Will shrugged.

They looked up with a hopeful look on their face. “Could I come to your dorm later today? I was going to see if I could get a hair cut, and that might take an hour or so.”

Will looked over. “What are you thinking of getting done? I could give you a trim for free, if you'd like.”

The blonde guy took a sip from his frappe. “You do hair?”

Will held up a hand. “I do trims. My step brother taught me on a wig when I was younger so he didn't have to pay for them himself. I can dye your hair too, if you like.”

Nico smiled. “I might have to take you up on that offer.”

“What?” 'Perc' exclaimed. “You're going to dye your hair? But – what if, you know, tomorrow you don't want the same color?”

Nico shrugged. “I'll be safe with a nice bluish purple.”

Will stood up and returned to his table to collect his stuff before walking back to meet Nico. “I have to go, but I'll be at my dorm. You can come whenever you're finished with your friends.” Going out on a limb, he decided to hold his hand out to Nico's three friends. “It was nice to meet you guys.” He tried to give his most winning smile.

The blonde guy immediately accepted his handshake. “I'm Jason.”

“Bye Jason.”

The guy with the darker hair simply waved. “Percy.”

Will nodded his way.

Hazel gripped his hand harder than anyone who had ever taken his hand. Just before she let go, she stared into his eyes and smiled, before saying in an absolutely cheery voice, “If you try anything funny when he's at your dorm, I will personally flay you alive.”

Will startled and backed away. “I, uh...I really don't think that will be a problem.”

Hazel frowned. “Only way I'll be sure.”

“I'm actually, uh –” He rubbed his neck, uncomfortable, before blurting “extremely asexual.”

Nico looked up at him with surprise. In fact, his face almost looked hopeful. “Really?” He whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Me too.” The quiet words flitted from his lips to his heart in a matter of seconds, and for the second time that week, Nico had permanently stuck their self into his mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! make sure to check out my tumblr at iisintrovert (fanfic only: iisintrovert2) for more!


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is when things get deep - and the fluffiness ensues!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what to say...check out my tumblr for more pastel!nico and punk!will? im at Iisintrovert and iisintrovert2?  
> Enjoy?

Will should probably delete his Google history every once in a while. Not that any of his searches were like that, he was ace as hell, but he certainly wouldn't want silly things like – and this is just an example – “how to use pronouns” cropping up whenever someone borrowed his laptop. He had been gathering information for the past half-hour and the things he was searching definitely could have been taken the wrong way.

Nico was coming to his dorm. Not only that, but (they?) were coming today. As in, probably within an hour or two. And Will wasn't prepared, not in the slightest.

He spent maybe five minutes making sure his dorm was nice and neat, shoving all of Cecil's clothes and miscellaneous items behind his curtain-covered closet. It didn't take long for him to make both of their beds and make his room look presentable. In fact, he had also had time to clean up his suite's bathroom so it wouldn't be dirty when they died and cut their hair (plural 'their,' not just Nico. These pronouns are confusing). All in all, Will was completely prepared. Physically prepared. His mental preparation was another story altogether.

Still, he felt as though he had done enough research and that the only thing he could do now was wait, and ask Nico what their preferences were.

Will heard his phone buzz on his desk and ran over to check it.

**Nico,':):** hey, I'm at your dorm building, where's your dorm?

Will couldn't help the smile that split his face in half and held his hands up to cover his face. He quickly typed out a reply, telling them what suite and room number he was. It was only when he tried to put his phone in his pocket when he remembered: he was wearing boxers. That's it.

“Shit.” he muttered, yanking the curtain of his closet almost down. All of his clothes had been piled on the ground haphazardly. “Shit!”

Will ran for his drawer, hoping to find something, anything black. The only items of clothing that came close were a pair of gray gym shorts and a thin black tee-shirt. Will cursed his father and murmured to himself. “Son of a b...” His door opened. “Billy goat.” Will finished lamely. A tousled head with pink cheeks peeked into his room. “Hey Nico, what's going on?”

Nico smirked. “Nothing. Why are you freaking out? And why, exactly, are you in underwear?” Will suspected the red on their ears wasn't just a direct result from the chilly air outside.

Will sighed. “I'm trying to find suitable black clothing that hasn't been shoved in a pile. Unfortunately, the majority of my clothing was on my floor, so I had to stuff it into the bottom of my closet. That includes my favorite pair of pants.”

Nico strode into Will's dorm and he immediately noticed an outfit change. Instead of the skirt and tank top, they were wearing Adidas sweat pants and a large gray sweatshirt. Their (Will must admit, on point) winged eyeliner and mascara had been wiped off to reveal just a tiny smudge of black around their eyes. Their hair was no longer pinned back and their flower crown was missing – instead, their dark hair was ruffled and curly, falling around his cheeks like a halo. There was something else, though. They looked...tired. Angry, sad even.

Nico walked past Will and peered into his closet. “You don't have any clothes!”

Will startled. “What do you mean? I have plenty of clothes!”

“Well, you have some clothes, but not nearly enough. I have –” they paused, their face falling. “Never mind. Here.” Nico reached into the back of Will's closet and pulled out a pair of dark maroon skinny jeans. “Wear these, they're cool.”

“Alright.” Will hurriedly pulled them on over his boxers. “Sorry about that.”

Nico shrugged. “It doesn't matter.” They shoved their hands into the pocket of their sweat shirt. “So, uh...are we going to go buy dye, or do you have any on you?”

Will, tugging the black t-shirt on, stepped over to his desk and stuffed his phone and keys into his pockets. “I only have a little bit of light blue left, and if I want to give you the right combination of purple and blue then we need to pick up a couple more boxes of Manic Panic.”

Nico nodded. “I see. Are we going to bleach it?”

Will walked back over and took Nico's head in his hands. It was quite easy to see the top of his head due to their height difference, but he fire that lit in his hands when he cradled Nico's face was worth it. He tried not to stare. Instead, he tilted Nico's head to this or that angle, before running his fingers through the top of his curls.

“I don't think we'll have to.” Will replied, even though it was obvious from the start. “Your hair is super dark, but Panic is a really strong. Plus, you don't want to bleach your hair. It's bad for the texture and stays for longer then the dye, so by the end of it you'll be blonde. The only bad thing is that Panic will dye anything, so it'll take a lot of preparation to make sure you don't end up with a purple neck.”

Nico giggled. “You know best, oh magical hair Guru. Do you just want to stop by a convenience store, or were you going to cut it first?”

Will shook his head and held the dorms door open for Nico. “I was going to head to CVS and get the dye and a set of scissors.”

Nico clapped his hands together. “Then let's go!”

 

Something was definitely wrong with Nico.

Will had seen them only twice before, but he could tell something was off. Something important. And he just didn't know how to stop it.

They were walking on their way to he nearest CVS, bundled up to thee teeth, and Nico hadn't said anything besides the simple answers to the conversational questions Will had been asking him. At least Will now knew Nico's favorite band is Fall Out Boy, their favorite color is indigo, and their favorite holiday, like Will, is Halloween. And Will still hadn't gotten up the courage to ask them what he really wanted to.

But then, there was a lull in their conversation. It was time. This was his chance.

“So,” he started, looking down at Nico. “what are your pronouns?”

He wasn't expecting their reaction. Instead of amiably explaining or even being embarrassed, Nico froze. “I'm a boy.” They – _he_ – stopped walking.

Will turned to look him in the eye. “So, he? I just...I don't want to misgender you.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand.

“I am a _boy_.” he stated again, this time with more vigor.

“Nico,” Will stopped. A tear ran down Nico's face.

“I promise.” he whispered.

Will couldn't watch, it was to much for him. He was so beautiful, and tears were streaming down his face. Will didn't know what to do besides what he did. He reached over and pulled Nico into a tight hug, tucked his head under his chin and wrapped his coat around them both.

He first noticed the sobs wracking through the other boy's body when his back started to shake. Then his hands curled into fists with the fabric of Will's shirt still knotted between his fingers. Will felt the wetness of his tears on his chest and his heart broke.

“Shh,” He comforted, rubbing soothing circles into his back. “I'm here. You're okay.”

Nico nuzzled into his chest and stayed there as the crying spell slowly came to a stop.

Will heard a muffled: “I'm okay.” and giggled. He reached up and ruffled his hair.

Nico was reluctant to let go, but eventually did in favor of holding Will's hand in his sweatshirt pocket.

And there was silence again. And Will was not at peace.

On the outside, he was a cheery fellow, holding hands with a beautiful boy. On the inside, however, he was screaming his head off.

_What the hell just happened? He just broke down!_ Will couldn't help but think it was his fault. He just asked him what his pronouns were, because he had said that they change. They change! According to all his research, he was either demi-boy, gender flux, gender fluid, or a mixture of the three. Yet, he had taken such offense to the suggestion that he wasn't a boy. _But, he can't be just a boy. He might be right now, but how was I supposed to know?_

Will shook his head. He didn't need to plague himself, he needed to trusted Nico to explain it to him.

“What'syouravoriteanimal?” he blurted.

Nico looked up at him quizzically. “Er, panda.” He smiled. “Wait, what's yours?”

Nico let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in. “I like black bears. And big cats.”

He giggled. “What, like a puma?”

“Yeah, there you go.”

“Figures you would like the two blackest animals that exists.”

“Figures you would like the dorkiest animal that exists.” Will retaliated.

Nico shook his head. “Panda bears are little burnt marshmallows that live to eat plants and blunder around and so they are the best animals of all. Dorky or otherwise.”

“Alright, I'll give you that, but pumas are like, the most bad ass things ever. And so are black bears.”

“Black bears are silly little blunders too! It's grizzly bears you have to watch out for.”

“Whatever. Pumas, however –”

They made it to the convenience store without a hitch. Well, without a visible problem. Will's nose was freezing and his piercings were killing him, the cold metal cooling his face from the inside. He almost considered taking them out. Almost.

Still holding Nico's hand, he opened the door and welcomed the warmth as they stepped in and immediately shed their gloves and scarves.

“Jeez, it's getting freezing out already.” Nico muttered. “I like the fall better then summer, but I'm not built to handle the cold.”

Will frowned. “What do you mean?”

“My mom was pure _Italiano_ and my dad is white, but his family came from Greece. Dark skin is made to process heat and keep your body cooler in the sun. Doesn't help when it feels like it's sub-zero outside.” Nico shrugged.

“That's interesting.” Will commented, picking up a pile of their discarded clothing and walking toward the 'hair care' section of the little store. He was trying to ignore the fact that Nico referred to his mother in the past tense. “My birth dad was half-Greek. Ma's family came from Poland and Greenland, I think.”

Nico smiled. “See? You're built for the cold.”

Will shuddered. “Right now it feels like my face is going to freeze off.”

“I'm sure the Polish didn't have pieces of metal embedded in their faces.”

They came to a stop in front of a row of hair dye. Most of the boxes were labeled for older women with highlighted hair, and Will wasn't planning on going blonde again. He pushed aside boxes and tried to find the familiar little jars of color that would once again transform his hair into a punk beacon.

“Hey, Will, I think I found them.”

He spun around. “Where?”

Nico held up a jar of _ultraviolet_. “I like this color.”

Will smirked. “You seem to be forgetting. I'm the magical hair Guru, you don't just pick one.”

“What do you mean?” Nico frowned.

“I've dyed my hair enough times to know how to do it correctly. If you really want to look like a fairy prince, then you need to pick out some darker purples and blues.”

Nico shrugged. “Your word is the law.” He turned to peer at the little selection of hair dyes. “Fairy prince,” he muttered, reaching out to pick up _purple haze_ , after _midnight_ , and _shocking blue_. “This enough?”

Will smiled at him. “Perfect. I'm a sucker for _'bad boys blue'_ , as it's ironically named, but I'm going to fade the 'lie locker' into it for the roots.” He tried to picked up the container with his hand that wasn't holding back a pile of laundry in his arms, but failed miserably.

“We should have gotten a basket.” Nico said, grinning, but leaned down to pick up the jars and headed for the register. Will grabbed a small hair care bag with two pairs of scissors and followed him.

Luckily, the girl was a much friendlier then Will's friend Jarold at grounds.

“Can I help you?” She asked sweetly and just a bit too loud, but Will wasn't going to blame her.

“Yes, please, I would like to buy these dyes.”

“He'd like to buy _one_ of these dyes.” Nico amended. Will frowned at him.

“I'm going to keep them after I use them on you, you don't need to pay for them. It's my treat, remember?”

Nico looked down sheepishly. “Yeah, but you're only buying them to do my hair. I don't want you to pay for them all.”

Will smiled. “Nonsense. I will absolutely dye my hair purple to get out of it being blonde.”

Nico held his hands up in defeat. “Alright, fine.”

The girl at the register read him his total and accepted the cash he handed her. Upon receiving his change he grabbed the plastic bag full of panic and beckoned Nico to the stairs in front of the shop.  
“Son of a _matrix_ , that's cold.” Nico muttered.

Will plopped his coat, their scarves and gloves onto the bench behind them. He picked up his scarf and turned to look at Nico. “This should warm you up.” He wrapped it around Nico's neck and shoulders, pulled the end through the loop and tied it off until Nico was enveloped in the smooth gray fabric.

“Thank you.” came the muffled voice from behind the cloth. Will tried not to look into his eyes for fear of having his heart broken again, but couldn't resist staring at them for at least a second. The pools of brown stared back at him, warming him from the inside. The little light that past through the over cast clouds seemed brighter. 

“You should have worn my leather jacket.” he whispered, pulling his ratty coat over Nico's shoulders. He couldn't help but to keep looking at his eyes.

Nico reached up and tugged the end of the scarf down to speak. “It smelled like perfume.”

“Do I smell like perfume?” he asked in a low voice.

“No,” Nico whispered. “You smell completely different. I smell like perfume.”

Their faces were very close. Will didn't remember getting closer, but he felt the draw of Nico, his eyes staring up at him pulling him towards them. They weren't just brown, he noticed. Little flecks of gold and black lined his irises, blown out in the little light shining on them. How had he not noticed that before?

Suddenly, his eyes were closed and his mouth was pressed against Nico's and his arms were holding him closer and tighter then he thought possible and there was a pain in his chest were he thought his heart was trying to break free, and nothing was okay but at the same time everything was okay. When Nico's mouth tilted under his and his cold hands pressed against the side of his neck he forgot everything.

And then he didn't notice anything at all. Or perhaps he noticed everything, all at once, because when Will closed his eyes and kissed him, their gloves, a scarf, and a bag full of hair dye forgotten on the bench, Will felt warm. No, it was more then that. For the first time in his life, Will felt at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of have to continue this, because I've become so attached and there are things that need to be explained, but does anyone want anything particular out of the last chapter? comment!!!!!!!!!  
> ("Meratrix" is latin for prostitute, if you were wondering. Also, kudos to you, fine reader, if you got the hidden RWBY and R.vs.b. reference)


	4. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is Nico so upset? Let's find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we see the wild dork in it's natural habitat. By the way, I'm upset no one got the RWBY reference from last chapter, but meh. Here we have another but this time it's pointed out inside the story. Enjoy, my lovelies!

Nico was completely content to sit in Will's lap and have fingers in his hair for as long as possible.

They were in Will's bathroom, blankets wrapped around their feet, Will sitting in a cushy chair he dragged in from his dorm with Nico in between his legs. They were both shivering, trying to sap the warmth from each other. Maybe a little too hard.

Nico snuggled back into Will's chest, humming like a cat. Will could hardly believe this boy had just recently been crying.

But that was something else to freak out about.

Nico's hair was wet, combed back neatly for easy access. Currently, half of his hair was drastically shorter then the rest, giving him the look of a child who enjoyed sticking forks in power outlets.

“Oh no.” Will muttered under his breath. “Oh _no_.”

Nico sighed. “What happened?”

“Oh no.” Will leaned away from him for a moment, and Nico quickly brought a hand up to check the back of his head.

“What did you – wait.” He dropped his hand. “Did you just make a goddamn Harry Potter reference while cutting my hair?”

Will smiled. “It was compulsory.”

Nico shook his head, dangerously, considering the scissors that rested just above his right ear. “I hate you.”

“You just made out with me.”

“I _strongly dislike_ you.”

Will giggled. “Close enough.”

“No, not really.” Nico sighed. He pushed himself back to how he was, his shoulder blades fit snug against Will's front, the ends of his hair just barely tickling his collar bones. “I don't – not like you.”

“So you do like me?”

He smacked his thigh in exasperation. “Yes, jackass. As you just said, I made out with you in front of a convenience store.”

Will made another snip, chuckling. “Just making sure. You know, I've only ever dated two girls and some shitty dude who broke up with me when he found out I was I was ace, so he didn't even like me.”

Nico whistled. “That sucks.” He opened his mouth, as if to add something else, but stopped short. Sighing, he closed his eyes. “I knew someone like that. Few years ago, he was in my class.”

“Did you like him?” Will tried to make his voice some calm despite his heart beating harder in his chest. Nico knew someone who was like the asshole who dumped him for not liking sex. He closed his mouth like he didn't want to talk about it. Will felt his heart contract at the thought. Could there be a residual reason as to why Nico was crying earlier?

This had gone beyond curiosity. Will couldn't take not knowing, not being able to comfort in a meaningful way that might actually do something. It wasn't just his healing instinct, it was _Nico._ Will had to know. He had to help. He had to prove to him that there would always be someone who would be there to let him cry.

And then there was the fact that Nico was actually willing to open up to him. To share even the smallest of facts, something Will found to be one of the most difficult things to do, especially about his high school years. The fact made his chest swell even further.

Nico sighed, looking down. “Not even close. I hated him. To be fair, I hated almost everyone. Shitty, parents, you know?”

Will laughed, surprised. Boy, did he know.

“Anyway, that was just when I was figuring out this whole... _situation_. I had only just began to dress the way I wanted to. The guy – his name was Octavian – was in the same lunch as me. When I walked in one day wearing makeup and skinny jeans, he got his whole group to surround me –” Nico let out a nervous laugh. “The kicker was, it was a boy day. I just wanted to look like that. They took my lunch and ripped my shirt open and screamed at me. They were laughing, calling me a girl. They _recognized_ it. And it hurt. But –” Nico chocked.

Will wanted him to stop. He didn't want to hear him say such terrible things. He didn't want to know, no he _didn't_ but he _had_ to. He had to know. He had to comfort him.

Nico laughed darkly. “The worst part was I felt guilty. I felt like I was lying, just because I was some poor confused kid who occasionally felt like a boy.” He let the words fall from his lips, soft as feathers, but oh the pain they inflicted.

Will's hands were shaking so bad he couldn't even hold his scissors anymore. Instead, he let them fall to the ground and wrapped his arms around Nico and buried his face in his neck and held on tighter then he thought he was able to. As if he would somehow be able to keep him together despite the awful things that human beings were capable of.

“I don't want you to hurt.” he whispered. _That must have been terrible. I can't believe you went through that. How does that make you feel?_ Will could have said any number of meaningless things, but the wouldn't have been the truth.

“Yeah, well.” Nico chuckled. “I'm all right. Well, I will be when you let me go.”

Will smiled into the crook of his neck and released him from his grip. He reached down, picked up his scissors, and continued to snip away at any out-of-place hairs.

He was silent for a moment. Nico had relaxed again, leaning back into Will tiredly, his head tilted slightly back. He hummed in appreciation every time Will ran his fingers through his hair to comb it out.

“So,” Will started. “if you don't mind me asking, what did you come up with? For a gender, I mean.”

Nico chuckled, this time with real humor. “You know, I'm still searching for answers. It was only last year when I decided that I wasn't going to let any sort of labels determine what I was going to do. I feel non-binary – at least most of the time. Sometimes it's worse, and I'll get some heavy disphoria, but normally I just feel slightly boyish or agender. I just happen to really like skirts and sweaters and stuff.” He shrugged, a smile forming on his lips. “I guess that's Gender-flux, or demi-boy or fluid or something, but the words don't really matter as much to me anymore.”

Will smiled. It was nice, knowing this about him. Knowing that Nico felt comfortable enough with him to reveal such personal thoughts and feelings after only a first...date.

“Is this a date?” he asked.

“Only if you want it to be.”

“And if I do?”

“Hm...probably not, then.”

He laughed. “You're a jackass.”

“Only slightly.”

~~~

The timer went off as they sat on the floor of Will's dorm room, Nico fiddling with a small wooden puzzle and Will attempting to sketch his off guard profile. His head was wrapped tightly in a black towel – “Why buy clothes that stain?” – and one of Will's old shirts hung dangerously off his shoulders.  
Will was attempting to draw the smooth lie of one collar bone until it connected with the edge of the thin fabric, but the sharp buzzing noise startled him to the point of scrapping a hard line across the face of his paper.

“Mother –” he hissed. There was no use. He wouldn't be able to erase the line without disturbing the perfect shading of the faded black shirt.

“Is my hair ready?” Nico giggled, tugging at the end of the towel.

“It should be. Come on, get in the shower! I want to see what it looks like!”

~~~

Nico knocked on the door again, dejected. “Er, Will...I don't think it was supposed to turn out this way. It's really not your fault, my hair's really dark.”

Will cringed, hoping desperately that there wasn't something wrong. Nico was just confused. Yeah, he didn't know that the mix of colors would look that way! He certainly wasn't unhappy.

“What's wrong? Come in so I can see.”

The door opened slowly and Nico stepped in.

Will was wrong. To get the affect they were going for, he most certainly should have bleached his hair. Instead of the mix of colors that were clearly visible and framed his face like a spiteful pixie, only a light sheen of each color bled through. The light hit his head at a perfect angle. The dark purples and indigo showed only slightly, looking scarily natural. Nico looked more like a prince of hell then a fairy prince. Will was wrong – and extremely happy about it.

“I don't see what's wrong.” He chocked out.

Nico smirked. “You asshole, this isn't what it was supposed to look like.”

Will stood up from his seat on the ground and embraced Nico, tucking his damp hair under his chin. “I love it. You look beautiful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any further questions as to what Nico's gender is, feel free to ask. Really I just put in the definition for my own, except I'm trans. I know way too much about labels due to my autism insisting i fill my head with all knowledge if i do any form of research. If any of my readers are even the slightest disphoric I recommend the beautiful Milo Stewart on Youtube! love that kid.  
> But yay! they end of a story! as always, any suggestions for new ones can be posted as comments below or sent to my tumblr blog, iisintrovert. Have a good one!


End file.
